


put me to the test

by dreaminghigher (regencyaus)



Series: tumblr prompts [3]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Fluff as hell, M/M, but what can you do, i'm taking half an hour to post each of those because i can't come up with titles lol, this one is from depeche mode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 13:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13388889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regencyaus/pseuds/dreaminghigher
Summary: For the prompt:“If you want to get me naked, you’ll have to convince me it’ll be worth my time.”





	put me to the test

Eames is running out of ideas. Seriously. He's tried everything. Arthur grins, and checks him out, and flirts  _back_ , and  _still_  just politely declines every time Eames actually invites him back to his. He's driving Eames mad.

"What have you actually tried?" Ari asks.

"Everything. I've flexed my arms, like, three times next to him. Called him pet names, put on all my moves. I've even pushed his chair and insinuated he's a condescending dick, but like, with love, you know?"

"...yeah, wonder why that's not working," Ari says, and shakes her head.

"Shut up," Eames says, mock offended. "Arthur likes it. Our flirting is special."

Ari seems to ponder this over for a moment. "Have you tried, you know, actually asking him out?"

"Of course I have! Watch. Arthur," he says to Arthur, who's going through a file in his desk, looking way too amused with the whole thing.

"Yes, Eames?"

"Do you wanna get a drink later?"

Arthur looks like he's barely holding in his laughter. But he just says, "No. Thank you for the offer," and Eames makes some big hand gesture to Ariadne that is supposed to encompass the whole thing.

"Boys," she says, and resigns from the whole thing.

The extractor finally comes back with the information they're waiting for, and they sit back for a meeting, throwing ideas around. 

"His biggest fear is apparently losing control of his company, he's protective of it like a motherfucker," Eames says.

The extractor pitches in."So, we have him somewhere with a full view of the building of his company. We blow it up, he's emotionally compromised, Eames rushes in like the loving wife that just heard the news. They talk about all the loss, about getting it back up again and everything they're gonna need, the people to get in touch with, and all the while he's filling the safe in the next room with the information we want."

"Sounds simple enough," Arthur says, and Ari agrees, so that's that. And also how Eames finds himself a level under, discreetly setting up a small explosive on the window of the replicated skyscraper.

"It's just you and me buddy," he tells the dog smelling his feet. The dog, predictably, ruffs, and goes back to hiding underneath the awning of the coffee shop on the ground floor. As per Ari's design, the inside of the building is just a chain of explosives, except for this one thing that he's putting outside, so he can shoot it with a sniper safely across the street. It will set off the chain of explosions, Eames will have enough time to switch skins and meet the mark on the hotel. Everything seems ready.

The dog ruffs at him again, drawing Eames' attention. "Hey, you found a friend," he notices, playing with them for a moment. The dog seems to be having the time of his life with his fellow dog. Eames sighs. "Not even you and me, then, huh?"

"Are you talking to the dogs?" Arthur asks, showing up behind him.

"No," Eames lies, and stands up again. "Is this the sign?"

"Yeah, the mark checking in and is going to his room. Give it two minutes, and the you can shoot it whenever you're ready."

"Alright," he says, and walks back with Arthur to the parking lot across the street, next to the hotel. For a moment he looks back to the dog and gestures between the two of them, like hey, I found a friend too! The dog seems super excited for him. Eames grins.

When he's aiming the sniper, he catches some movement at the edge of his sight. He's ignoring it, looking for the sign of the bomb, and then he remembers. "Wait, wait, wait, give me a minute," he says, leaving the gun and looking down for a landing place on the ground floor.

"Eames, what the fuck-"

"The dogs!"

That makes Arthur pause. "...what the fuck?"

"I'm just gonna shoo them, be back in less than a minute," Eames explains, already jumping down onto a car.

"What- they're  _projections_  Eames!" Arthur shouts behind him.

"Doesn't mean I have to watch them die a gruesome death," Eames shouts back, crossing the street and reaching the sheltered area under the awning.

"Hey boys, I need you to leave now, okay. Yeah, there you go. Good boys," Eames says, and waits until they're safely out of the blast range to jog back.

When he climbs back up the Arthur is shaking his head at him, faintly amused. Eames shrugs.

"That was less than a minute, c'mon. We're right on schedule," Eames says, reaching for the sniper again. Arthur stops him, with a hand above it, and looks at him. And then,  _and then_  Arthur just fucking leans in and kisses him, hand under Eames' chin to keep him where Arthur wants him, so hot Eames can barely _breathe_ , fucking languid and sensual like Arthur is rewarding good behavior or some shit, except Arthur pulls back and says, "That was fucking stupid, don't do it again," with a smile, and reaches for the sniper instead.

A single well aimed shot and the whole building blows up in flames, and that's Eames' cue, and the whole time he's the most confused he's been in a while.

"Dear, I don't understand you." Eames tells Arthur, when he manages to track him down after the job, into a hotel in Tokyo, of all places.

"Jesus fuck Eames, you almost gave me a heart attack." Arthur curses, and puts down the gun he already had aimed. Eames thinks such a rough welcoming is unnecessary, really, but he decides Arthur gets a pass and ignores it.

"Like, at first you didn't seem interested at all? And I-"

"What, because I didn't jump into bed with you at the first chance I had?" Arthur asks, now that he knows what Eames is here for finally relaxing and sitting down, effectively cutting off the speech Eames had planned.

"Well, yeah." Because really, who could turn him down when he's being his most charming self?

"Why are you presuming I'm so easy?" Arthur asks, amused, to Eames complete astonishment. And then, leaning back against his chair, playing with a pen, "Sure, I'm interested. But if you want to get me naked, you'll have to convince me it'll be worth my time."

And there's  _glint_  in his eyes, and Eames thinks  _fuck_ , thinks he's gone right there and then. He could never resist a challenge. This is gonna be fun.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr at [dreaminghigher](dreaminghigher.tumblr.com)


End file.
